Politics

Citation

Aristotle. (c. 4th century BCE). Politics (A Treatise on Government; W. Ellis, Trans.; introduction by A. D. Lindsay). J. M. Dent & Sons, 1912. Free official edition: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6762

Chapter Summary

Context and Argument

The Politics is the second part of a work of which the Nicomachean Ethics is the first: the Ethics describes the character needed for a good life, and the Politics asks what kind of community makes that life possible. Aristotle treats the state as a community aimed at a complete and self-sufficient life, and the legislator as a craftsman whose material is society and whose aim is the good life. The work has eight books, divided into 103 short numbered chapters in this translation, and the books differ in kind. Books I–III set out basic concepts, Books IV–VI describe existing constitutions and how to preserve them, and Books VII–VIII describe the best city and its education.

Book I: The Household, Slavery and Wealth-Getting (Chapters 1–13)

Chapter 1 begins from the claim that every community aims at some good, and the highest community at the highest good. Chapter 2 builds the city up from the household and the village and states that man is naturally a political animal. Chapters 3–7 discuss the parts of the household, mainly master and slave, and argue that some people are slaves by nature, though Chapter 6 concedes that slavery by law and conquest is contested. Chapters 8–11 distinguish household management and natural acquisition from money-making without limit, and criticise lending at interest. Chapters 12–13 turn to the rule of husbands over wives and fathers over children and to the virtues of each member of the household.

Book II: Earlier Theories and Existing Constitutions (Chapters 1–12)

Aristotle surveys the best-known proposals and the constitutions that are praised, in order to learn from them. Chapters 2–6 criticise Plato's proposals in the Republic and the Laws, notably the community of wives, children and property, on the ground that a city must not be made too much of a unit and that common ownership brings quarrels. Chapters 7–8 look at the proposals of other theorists, including Hippodamus, and Chapters 9–11 examine Sparta, Crete and Carthage. Chapter 12 deals with the lawgivers.

Book III: Citizenship and the Forms of Government (Chapters 1–18)

The book starts from the question "What is a city?" and defines citizenship (Chapters 1–3), then asks whether the virtue of a good man and of a good citizen is the same (Chapter 4). Chapters 6–8 classify constitutions by how many rule and for whose benefit: three correct forms, kingship, aristocracy and polity, and three deviations, tyranny, oligarchy and democracy. Chapters 9–13 argue about justice, the claims of wealth, birth and virtue to rule, and whether the many should hold supreme power; Aristotle argues they can collectively judge better than the few. Chapters 14–18 compare kinds of kingship and conclude that rule by the one or the few of outstanding virtue would be best, though rule under law is generally safer.

Book IV: Varieties of Constitution (Chapters 1–16)

Aristotle sets out to ask what constitution is best for the greatest number of cities rather than for an ideal case. Chapters 2–7 classify the kinds of democracy and oligarchy by the parts of the city that share power. Chapters 8–9 describe the "polity" as a mixture of the two, and Chapter 10 discusses tyranny. Chapters 11–12 argue that the most stable state has a strong middle rank of citizens, between the very rich and very poor. Chapters 14–16 examine the deliberative, magisterial and judicial parts of a constitution.

Book V: Revolution and Stability (Chapters 1–12)

Aristotle analyses the causes of faction and constitutional change, such as the pursuit of equality, profit, honour and fear, and how these play out in each type of constitution (Chapters 1–7). Chapters 8–9 give means of preserving a constitution, including loyalty, competence and virtue in officials. Chapters 10–12 deal with monarchies and tyrannies.

Book VI: Democracy and Oligarchy in Practice (Chapters 1–8)

The book discusses how to build and keep democracies and oligarchies. It names liberty as the foundation of democracy (Chapter 2), distinguishes four kinds of democracy by their citizens' occupations (Chapter 4), recommends stability over purity of form (Chapter 5), describes oligarchy (Chapters 6–7), and closes with the magistracies (Chapter 8).

Book VII: The Best State (Chapters 1–17)

The best constitution depends on the most desirable life, and Chapters 1–3 argue that individual and city share the same happiness, which consists of virtuous activity. Chapters 4–12 treat the size, territory, site and population of the ideal city and its classes of citizens. Chapters 13–17 take up the end of the state in leisure, peace and virtue, and the rearing of children, including marriage and early upbringing.

Book VIII: Education (Chapters 1–7)

The final book argues that education should be public and common. Chapters 2–4 discuss what should be taught: reading and writing, gymnastics, music and drawing. Chapters 5–7 turn to music, asking whether children should perform, and which harmonies and rhythms suit education. The text breaks off in the discussion of music.

Key Concepts

Books I–III

• Political animal: the claim that human beings fulfil their nature only in a city.
• Natural slavery: Aristotle's controversial argument that some people are by nature fitted to be ruled as slaves.
• Citizen: one who shares in judging and in holding office.
• Correct forms and deviations: constitutions that serve the common good versus those that serve the rulers.

Books IV–VI

• Polity: a mixture of oligarchic and democratic elements, kept stable by a strong middle class.
• Faction and revolution: the causes of constitutional change and the means of preserving a constitution.

Books VII–VIII

• Best life: a life of virtue, with enough external goods.
• Education for leisure: training in virtue and in the worthy use of leisure, including music.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Comparative and empirical method. Books II, IV and V rest on surveys of many real constitutions, so the work is more than a description of an ideal.
• A systematic vocabulary. The classifications of constitutions in Book III and the analysis of faction in Book V supply terms still used in political analysis.
• Ethics and politics together. The introduction notes that Aristotle did not separate the statesman from the moralist, and the work shows how a regime shapes the character of its citizens.

Limitations

• Natural slavery. The argument in Book I that some people are slaves by nature is a central and troubling part of the book, and it also excludes labourers and women from the full citizen body.
• An unfinished treatment. The final book ends in the middle of the discussion of music, so the account of the education and life of the best city is incomplete, and the books differ in kind, from conceptual analysis to survey to ideal design.
• The ideal state is only sketched. Book VII gives conditions for the best city but not a detailed constitution.
• Ancient background. Readers need to know the Greek city-state, since Aristotle's examples assume it.

Where It Fits in the Course

The Politics is a natural companion to Plato's The Republic, which it criticises directly in Book II, and the two should be read together. Machiavelli's The Prince and Hobbes's Leviathan later replace the idea of a natural political community with the view of the state as a human artifice. Locke's Second Treatise and Rousseau's The Social Contract also contrast with Aristotle on the origin of political society. Mill's On Liberty and Tocqueville's Democracy in America use mixed-government and middle-class arguments that echo Book IV, and Tocqueville's discussion of democratic manners recalls Aristotle's interest in how constitutions shape character.

Wolin's Politics and Vision and Strauss and Cropsey's History of Political Philosophy both treat Aristotle at length and are useful for orientation.

How to Use This Book

The work can be read in more than one order. A good first path is Book I (Chapters 1–7), Book III (Chapters 1–13), Book IV (Chapters 1–4 and 11–12), then Book V (Chapters 1–4 and 8–9) and Book VII (Chapters 1–3 and 13–15). Book II's critique of Plato is best read after the Republic. Books VI and VIII and the specialised parts of Books IV–V can be left for a second reading.

Cite by Bekker numbers, which appear in the margins of this translation, since they are the same in every edition. Keep a table of the constitutions Aristotle names and who rules in each. Compare this older translation with a modern one, such as the Chicago edition listed on this page, for the key terms (polis, polity, citizen).

Edition and Sources

This guide is based on the William Ellis translation published by J. M. Dent in 1912 with an introduction by A. D. Lindsay, as reproduced in Project Gutenberg eBook #6762 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6762). The introduction was read, and the opening of every one of the 103 chapters, with Book I, Chapters 2 and 5, Book III, Chapters 1, 4 and 7 and Book IV, Chapter 11 read more fully.